Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts remain constructive on Cardinal Health, with 18 covering firms giving it a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating. Fifteen analysts rate the stock a buy, and the average 12-month price target is about $251.73.
• Cardinal Health recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $3.17 EPS versus the $2.79 consensus estimate, though revenue of $60.94 billion came in slightly below forecasts. The company also raised full-year guidance to 10.70–10.80 EPS.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.5158 per share, implying an annualized payout of $2.06 and a 0.9% yield. Institutional ownership remains high at 87.17%, with several large funds recently adding to their positions.

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $251.7333.

A number of research firms have issued reports on CAH. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cardinal Health from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. William Blair assumed coverage on Cardinal Health in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Cardinal Health from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday.

Cardinal Health Price Performance

CAH stock opened at $227.96 on Friday. Cardinal Health has a fifty-two week low of $137.75 and a fifty-two week high of $243.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.86, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.49. The business's fifty day moving average price is $219.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $214.43.

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.38. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.62% and a negative return on equity of 92.61%. The company had revenue of $60.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.35 earnings per share. Cardinal Health's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Cardinal Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.700-10.80 EPS. Research analysts expect that Cardinal Health will post 10.77 EPS for the current year.

Cardinal Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.5158 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 1st. This is a positive change from Cardinal Health's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Cardinal Health's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CAH. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cardinal Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $790,344,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Cardinal Health by 153.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,804,090 shares of the company's stock valued at $911,010,000 after purchasing an additional 3,511,579 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Cardinal Health by 1,328.1% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 951,259 shares of the company's stock valued at $195,484,000 after buying an additional 884,648 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Cardinal Health by 7,053.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 750,038 shares of the company's stock valued at $158,491,000 after buying an additional 739,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,441,258 shares of the company's stock worth $6,461,179,000 after buying an additional 617,775 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Cardinal Health Company Profile

Cardinal Health is a multinational healthcare services and products company headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. Tracing its roots to the early 1970s, the company has grown into a major provider of supply chain and distribution services for the healthcare sector. Cardinal Health operates across a range of service lines that support hospitals, health systems, pharmacies, physician offices and clinical laboratories.

The company's core activities include the wholesale distribution of branded and generic pharmaceuticals, the supply and distribution of medical-surgical products, and the provision of logistics and inventory management solutions.

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